Ron Johnson Under Fire *Again* For Pushing “Ridiculous Conspiracy Theory” About Capitol Attack

Johnson Used Yesterday’s Senate Hearing To Peddle “Absurd” Conspiracies, Defend Violent Insurrectionists In Deadly Mob Attack

After pushing the wildly inaccurate claim last week that the January 6th assault on the U.S. Capitol “didn’t seem like an armed insurrection,” Senator Ron Johnson is back in the news for peddling new lies seeking to downplay the severity of and causes that fueled the violent mob attack against Congress. Johnson is facing a fresh round of well-deserved criticism for his latest false conspiracy that it was actually “left-wing ‘provocateurs’ and ‘fake’ Trump supporters” who were behind the attack on the Capitol. Johnson has also made the demonstrably false claim that House Democrats only impeached Trump as a “diversionary operation” from scrutiny of their actions around the riot.

Senator Johnson’s latest claims reflect his transformation into “a collector of crackpot theories and conspiracies.” The vulnerable incumbent’s numerous unhinged claims about the January 6th rioting have come under fire for being “ridiculous revisionist history,” and critics within his own party “promptly slammed Johnson over his unfounded suggestions” and called them “disgraceful.” Local TV has denounced Johnson for deciding to “elevate misinformation,” and the Editorial Board of Wisconsin’s largest newspaper wrote that Johnson’s dangerous embrace of false conspiracies “shows why Wisconsin’s senior senator has to go.”

Johnson is facing a difficult re-election, with recent polling revealing that he is starting the 2022 cycle as “the most unpopular Republican…up for re-election next year.”

Read more about Johnson’s latest “ridiculous” and “absurd” conspiracy theory:

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Editorial: Ron Johnson’s whitewash of the U.S. Capitol riot shows why Wisconsin’s senior senator has to go

• Wisconsin State Journal: Opinion: Wisconsin makes national news for wrong reasons

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: At Senate hearing on Capitol riot, Ron Johnson suggests Trump crowd was incited by a small group of agitators and by police firing tear gas

• Washington Post: Critics slam Sen. Ron Johnson for unfounded claim that ‘fake Trump protesters’ led riots: ‘It’s disgraceful’

• New York Times: “Some Republicans have sought to play down the severity of the attack, including Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who falsely blamed ‘provocateurs’ and ‘fake Trump protesters’ for the violence.”

• CNN Analysis: Ron Johnson just dropped a ridiculous conspiracy theory at the Senate Capitol attack hearing

• Washington Post: Ron Johnson’s extreme effort to distance Trump supporters from the Capitol Riot

• Boston Globe: Senator Johnson pushes false claim that insurrectionists on Jan. 6 were ‘fake Trump protesters’ during hearing

• BuzzFeed News: Sen. Ron Johnson Said “Fake” Trump Supporters Started The Capitol Riots

• Vox: Ron Johnson uses Senate hearing on January 6 insurrection to push absurd conspiracy theory

• HuffPost: Senator Ron Johnson Defends Capitol Rioters During Hearing

• The Daily Beast: Johnson Pushes Deranged ‘Fake Trump Supporters’ Theory During Capitol Riot Hearing

• Slate: Ron Johnson Gets Conspiratorial at Senate Hearing Over Capitol Riot

• New York Magazine: Conspiracy Theorist Ron Johnson Is the New Model for Swing State GOP Senators

• MSNBC: Why Ron Johnson is peddling ridiculous Jan. 6 conspiracy theories

• WQOW: “Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson used his remarks during the Capitol riot hearing to elevate misinformation. Despite some claims following the riot, antifa members weren’t disguising themselves as Trump supporters before fighting police and breaking into the Capitol building. Senator Johnson read from an account of someone who is pushing that very conspiracy theory.”

• CNN’s Alisyn Camerota: “You have Senator Ron Johnson who represents this––I’m sorry to say––crazy town wing where he resorts to a right-wing blog to get his information about January 6th, rather than the intelligence that he’s privy to, rather than reading a reputable news source… He has fallen into some sort of strange conspiracy rabbit hole.”

• MSNBC’s Willie Geist: “It’s truly disgraceful.”

• CNN Reality Check: “Sen. Johnson Can’t Quit Baseless Conspiracies”

• Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) on CBS This Morning: Johnson “said things that are entirely counter to what I know to be true from law enforcement––by the way, both in classified and unclassified settings––so I don’t think that’s helpful.”

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